Has anyone ever seen a surgery?

Nursing Students General Students

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I just graduated from first semester and I have already seen and exploratory abdominal procedure. It was the best experience of my life! So I was wondering, have any of you students been in on a procedure?

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I have seen biopsies, eye surgeries, and hysterectomies. Pretty amazing!

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Specializes in Infusion.

Lumbar laminectomy with fixation hardware placed, c-section. Facination stuff.

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I worked in the OR as a CNA and saw craniotomy surgeries, hand, eye, pelvic, etc. It was a pretty awesome experience but I definitely do not want to be an OR Nurse!

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My first surgery was basically a women with cancer on her woo-ha and they were going to take the skin off in hopes of stopping it. Cauterization + smell + breathing in my own air from the mask + fruity pebbles don't mix well, I had to leave early. I also saw an echo, which was pretty cool but, i don't know if this is normal but he wasn't completely under so he tried pulling the camera out a few times and I felt like I should have helped him :( A last one I saw was, I don't remember the name but they injected dye into a tube that was previously placed into his abdomen to replace it because of the type of cancer he had they were draining fluid... An eventful year.

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My surgical introduction was a day spent in surgery while in med/surg. The first case was a man who was getting a heart transplant. When I arrived, in his heart was already out of his chest, and he was connected to the bypass machine. The surgery was amazing. His chest was open up and it looked like the cargo bay of the space shuttle--there was an empty cavity where everything should have been. Because this was a teaching hospital, the surgical suite had a viewing area--it consisted of a platform with one or two steps leading to it that raised the obsever higher than everyone else. I could easily see what was going on.

The next surgery was cosmetic procedure for a teen who had marfan syndrome with pectus cainatum--his chest looked as if he had an alien in it and it was about ready to break out. The doctor opened his chest and started removing the rib cartilage. I was amazed at how white they were and how the surgeon would just pop them off and they would go flying off the table, which seemed to me to be a hazard should someone step on a piece and slip/fall.

Both were amazing procedures and I never forgot them.

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I saw 2 c-sections last semester during my OB rotation. was pretty interesting since i had one myself!

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

I did an 18 hour day once during my internship after 2nd semester where I saw an emergency cath that led to CABGx4. I stood on a stool above the head of the pt the entire time. I think my jaw was on the floor through most of it. It was amazing.

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My OR rotation was awesome! And by awesome I mean terrifying lol. My first surgery was a gunshot wound to the chest. Went in and was embedded in R scapula. They never could get it out, so they ended up just leaving it be. Poor guy.

Immediately after that was a motorcycle vs. truck collision, and we had to help this poor guy that was just thrown from his bike. His whole body went one way and his foot got caught on something, because as he was laying there, I kept thinking it looked weird (lots of blood too). Well I guess the Med student saw me looking at it, so he held the leg up and started waving his foot in front of me. It was totally degloved... Pretty much peeled straight back up the the arch of the foot :uhoh21:

I learned a couple of things that day. 1.) Never ride a motorcycle and 2.) Oh the things we see... I don't know if I can do the OR lol.

Edit: Wait, I totally didn't even count OB. To be fair my first surgery was a C-Section, but my first time in the actual OR, and not the OR on the L&D unit, was what I described above.

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Specializes in Pediatrics and Med Surf Float.

Saw laproscopic arthroscopy 2x. One was torn miniscies and cleaned the edges, other was to clean debris in a knee replacement that was painful to the pt. Saw 1 CS in ob. That was cool. Got to do vit k on the nb.

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Specializes in Acute Care Pediatrics.

I LOVE watching surgeries!!!! They are so interesting to me. I have seen several C-sections, a TURP, and the correction of a broken femur.

The TURP was cool - probably because I had an awesome surgeon who let me sit at the controls of the DaVinci and look inside this guy's abdomen. :lol2: But the best was definitely the femur. I got in on that surgery on a whim... It was during my pediatric rotation, and my patient was going into surgery and his parents begged that I go in with him. Who was I to say no? HAHA! It was truly awesome. Ortho surgeries are truly amazing. I had hilarious surgeons on that case as well... at one point one of them said (as he was pounding this giant bendable nail into this kids femur with a hammer) "THIS IS SO MONEY!"

Love. it.

:yeah:

I could easily be an OR nurse, but I would just want to watch all day and not do anything else. ;) And I do prefer my patients awake.

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I saw a BKA last month...I was worried going in that I might pass out or something, but in fact, I was quite interested. Amazing stuff! Once they cut through the bone with a Gigli saw and threw the leg in the biohazard bag, I had to leave. All I could think of was that it was lunchtime and I was starving! (Sick? Probably LOL) ...I was about to pass out, not because of the blood & gore, but from low blood sugar!

(And yes, I had eaten breakfast that am)

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